A film industry icon, Sylvester Stallone, pulls no punches in his latest film production The Expendables. In fact, that there are no CGI special effects in his latest “He-Man” blockbuster but capping only on the good ol’-fashion perils of live stunt man heroics. I guarantee you that his true-to-life style of thriller/action filmmaking will muster up a flinch or two while sitting comfortably in your theater chair. Stallone grew up on the films where real people performed genuine fighting and amazing stunts to thrill audiences as well as to feed off of their own quest for a dangerous challenge for an adrenalin rush. Stallone describes that his movie, “…is made with brains and brawn.” Stallone’s dream to write, direct and star in his film was only half the battle to be won. The bigger challenge was to pull together the proper daredevil team that could bring transparency to their character revealing a heart, in order to make his story believable. To Stallone’s credit, his hand-picked cast of performers (Jet Li, Jason Statham, Randy Courture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, Giselle Itié, Mickey Rourke, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, David Zayas, Bruce Willis) were honored to be chosen, and once their names were set-in-stone as one of the testosterone-fueled lineup boys, they were chomping at the bit to get to work. What each actor brought to the film, essentially what they do best, we now see that it paid off for an “extraordinaire” performance. I deem that there are three separate million-dollar scenes that Stallone wants you to remember. Rest assured, you will not forget!

A tight group of middle-aged, ex-military special operations men, The Expendables, live on the wild side as hardened mercenaries. This unique band of brothers have more than their share of covert adrenalin rush CIA-funded assignments; but, while they are making the world a safer place, observers might see them more like Peter Pan’s lost boys – all grown-up. The brothers were all about going after people who were evil, but over time they crossed a line they never thought they would cross. They lost their way, and money overruled justice to become the center of the assignment. They march to their own drum and are out of step with the world. They have no families or significant other to share a normal life (in spite of failed attempts) because the code they live by does not allow transparency outside of their band.

The leader of the pack, Barney Ross (Stallone), invites the troupe to meet at Tools Tattoo Parlor run by Tool himself (Rourke). Barney lays out the next routine assignment, but the guys are corporately not feeling the rush unless the money is right. The money is definitely right, but the assignment has some flaws that bring concern. The task is to save the people in the South American country of Vilena from a ruthless dictator, General Garza (Zayas). Barney and Lee Christmas (Statham) go undercover to check-out the assignment and bring back the news to the boys. They report the details and conclude that it is a suicide mission. After a few minutes of silence the band of brothers are all in and ready to rumble, knowing that their choice could create one of two outcomes: to redeem a searching soul or to wipe out the expendables, who were called together to make the world a better place. (Karen Pecota)